HONEY PUMPKIN DESSERT BARS and PUMPKIN FUDGE and PUMPKIN, RAISIN AND BRANDY PIE

I love pumpkin, and am always drawn to a recipe, whether sweet or savory, that features this wonderful fruit (I was shocked to discover pumpkin is not a vegetable).
Here are three recipes, sweet and luscious and delicious.
I made the Pumpkin, Raisin and Brandy Pie on one of those days that there were a hundred things going on! I had it planned perfectly - I would whisk it out of the oven a moment before leaving home, but as I promptly arrived for my meeting, I realized I had left the pie in the oven! Apparently an extra 20 to 25 minutes was just what the pie needed, it was a little brown, but it tasted wonderful.

HONEY PUMPKIN DESSERT BARS

CRUST
1 cup flour
1 cup quick cooking oats
1/2 cup butter
1/4 cup brown sugar
FILLING
30 ounces canned pumpkin
4 eggs
1 cup half and half
1 cup honey
3/4 cup brown sugar
2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon salt

Heat oven to 350F.
In a medium bowl, mix crust ingredients with fork until crumbly. Press in bottom of 13 by 9 inch pan. Bake 10 minutes.
In large bowl, beat filling ingredients until blended.
Pour over partially baked crust.
Bake 55 to 60 minutes or until set. Cool completely. Serve with whipped cream if desired.
Enjoy!

Recipe adapted from General Mills, 2009
www.bettycrocker.com/.../honey-pumpkin-dessert-s...

PUMPKIN FUDGE

3 cups sugar
3/4 cup butter
1 (5 ounce) can evaporated milk
1/2 cup canned pumpkin puree
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1 (11 ounce) package butterscotch morsels
1 (7 ounce) jar marshmallow creme
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup pecans

Line a 9 by 13 inch baking pan with foil. Butter foil, set aside.
In a saucepan, combine sugar, butter, evaporated milk, pumpkin, cinnamon, ginger and cloves. Cook, stirring, over medium high heat until mixture boils.
Reduce heat to medium low, continue to boil at a steady rate, stirring constantly, until a candy thermometer registers 234 degrees or mixture reaches soft ball stage, 20 to 25 minutes. Remove pan from heat.
Mix in butterscotch pieces and stir until melted. Stir in marshmallow creme and vanilla until well combined. Pour mixture into prepared pan, spreading evenly. Sprinkle with pecans.
When fudge is firm, use foil to lift it out of pan. Cut fudge into pieces.
Enjoy!

PUMPKIN, RAISIN AND BRANDY PIE

1/2 cup golden raisins
3 tablespoons brandy
3 eggs
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 tablespoons golden syrup
2 cups cooked, pureed pumpkin
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
300 ml cream
1 cup crushed ginger snaps

Heat the oven to 375F.
Place raisins in a bowl with brandy and microwave on high for 1 minute. Beat eggs with sugar and golden syrup until smooth. Mix in the pumpkin, pumpkin pie spice and cream. Stir in raisins. Pour into a greased pie dish and sprinkle crushed cookies on top. Bake 40 to 45 minutes until just set. Cool, and serve with whipped cream or ice cream.
Enjoy!

Recipe adapted from NZ House and Garden
www.nzhouseandgarden.co.nz/

CHOCOLATE WAFFLE COOKIES and MAYONNAISE CHOCOLATE CAKE

I love that both of these recipes involve chocolate with a twist!
My daughter had a play date with a friend, one day after school, and I wanted to prepare and serve them snacks as sweet as they were. The kids and I both loved the unique cooking method of the chocolate waffle cookies, and the intriguing addition of mayonnaise to the chocolate cake! It was such a novelty to have a cookie out of the waffle iron, and a condiment in a chocolate cake - a fun take on treasured chocolate treats. I also appreciated that they were easy to prepare with minimal mess to clean up.

CHOCOLATE WAFFLE COOKIES

1/3 cup shortening

1 (1 ounce) square chocolate

1 egg, beaten

1/2 cup sugar

2 tablespoons milk

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

3/4 cup flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

Melt shortening and chocolate in a saucepan over low heat, stirring constantly. Let cool.

Combine egg, sugar, milk and vanilla in a mixing bowl, and stir well.

Add chocolate mixture, and stir well. Combine flour, baking powder and salt. Add to chocolate mixture.

Preheat waffle iron to medium heat. Drop dough by tablespoons 2 inches apart onto the iron, close and bake 2 to 4 minutes or until done. Remove to wire rack and let cool completely.

Enjoy!

Recipe adapted from The Morning News, May 2005

MAYONNAISE CHOCOLATE CAKE

1/4 cup cocoa
1 cup hot water
1 tablespoon vanilla essence
2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 cup sugar
3/4 cup mayonnaise

Mix the cocoa, hot water and vanilla essence together in a bowl, cool.
Sift the flour, baking soda and sugar into a bowl and make a well in the centre.
Blend the mayonnaise with the cocoa ingredients and then pour into the well. Mix together gently with a spoon. Pour into a well greased cake tin.
Bake at 350F for 25 to 30 minutes or until the cake is cooked when tested. Cool in the tin for 10 minutes before turning out onto a cake rack.
Ice with your favorite icing, or a rich chocolate glaze or simply dust with icing sugar to serve.

RICH CHOCOLATE GLAZE

Melt 125g chocolate with 1/2 cup cream in the microwave together. Stir to combine, cool a little and then pour over the cake and smooth out.

Recipe adapted from Food in a Minute with Allyson Gofton
www.foodinaminute.co.nz/